Red Dead Redemption: Zombies, Cowboys and Things That Go Boom

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...Red Un-dead Redemption, more like. Amirite?

By Patrick Kolan

Rockstar doesn't do things in half measures. Like GTA IV's Episodes before it, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is out next week – and we think it's shaping up to be a satisfying content-filled, story driven experience from start to finish. Given Rockstar's sterling efforts in the original game, it's great to see the expansion continues Rockstar's commitment to creating a single-player addition worth your time. These were the stand-out bits so far - and a few things to keep your eyes out for.

Things That Go Boom in the Night There's no sense in unleashing hordes of zombies upon gamers without at least upping the odds a little bit with some new weapons. Naturally, while ammunition is scarce, there are a few new tools to play with.

Holy water, administered liberally via a grenade-like lob, became an instant favourite. Like a blessed Molotov cocktail, bottles of holy water burst on contact, spewing forth cleansing blue flames of religiosity. Gorgeous and practical. Zombie bait is the other half of the equation – also tossed like a grenade. This bottle of pure putrescence attracts zombies to its landing point, leaving them vulnerable to all manner of disposal.

The blunderbuss is a potent zombie-masher of a rifle. A single shot can obliterate numerous targets, leaving nothing behind, save for a fine red mist of undead gore. The instant-kill nature of this weapon means it's valuable and therefore conserving ammunition is a must. That said, it got us out of a few tight jams –and made some zombies into jam in the process.

Finally, the humble torch becomes an essential tool in stopping the spread of the zombie menace. You'll need to wield this puppy in the scattered cemeteries, lighting up exposed coffins while fending off the undead.

Horses for Courses Given the necessity of horse-based transport in Red Dead Redemption, we were delighted to find four unlockable 'Horses of the Apocalypse'. Marston can, during his travels through this nightmarish reimagining of the open plains, come across four very special demonic equines.

Zombie horse! Very cool. But that's just the tip of the undead iceberg.

Of the four, the most immediately impressive is the flaming steed, 'War'. War's fiery mane is all well and good – but it's his devastating trail of blazing destruction that really sold us: running through a crowd of undead causes them to burst into flames. Awesome. 'Death' lives up to its name; this monstrous beast's presence causes zombies' heads to combust in its presence. 'Famine', bone skinny and evil looking, as well as a noxious 'Pestilence', both have infinite stamina – and, conveniently, can't be killed by zombie attacks.

New Challenges in the Old West This wouldn't be an open-world expansion without fresh –and optional – side-quests to stumble upon within the appropriately horror-laden setting. Survivors, scattered across the countryside, are Undead Nightmare's version of Red Dead's 'wanted posters'. Worried family members now post pleas for help in finding their relatives – and naturally John Marston is up to the task. You'll not only need to track them down, but defend them and reunite the survivor at the end of the mission.

There are five key graveyards in Red Dead Redemption – and these must be cleansed in order to stop the spread of the zombie menace. This involves torching exposed coffins and taking out the undead threat in the area. However, while these areas can be cleared out, the towns in the game are constantly being subjected to zombie attacks.

Bringing up your mini-map gives you an at-a-glance idea of where your six-shooter skills are most needed –and restoring order provides you with safe houses, more ammunition and fast travel options.

Legions of the Undead You can't have an authentic zombie experience without zombies. It's kind of an essential ingredient. Rockstar has sided with a blend of undead types – slow, shuffling lurkers, charging menaces, leaping freaks and projectile-vomiting foes.

Sure, slow zombies don't present much of a challenge initially, but there's nothing quite like rounding a cliffside face and coming upon a dozen of the recently deceased, shuffling towards your horse.

Atmosphere to spare.

The Bolter, an agile nuisance, pounces at speed and can be a real pain to obliterate when you're surrounded. However, they're noticeably weaker, which keeps things balanced. On the other end of the spectrum is the Bruiser. As you might guess, they're all about powerful melee attacks – and they can take a fair few rounds to put down.

Finally, the Retcher is the distance-attacking member of the dead-brigade. They spit bile – which is a pain in the rear – but also explode after you've downed them. If you're careless, you can end up on the wrong side of the blast... and end up seeing the rather apt 'UNDEAD!' game over screen. Whoops.

Atmosphere to Spare While it's all well and good to populate the world of Red Dead Redemption with zombies, nothing builds atmosphere like stormy weather, an eerie colour scheme and haunting score. The weather system in Undead Nightmare has actually been retooled completely to better reflect the horror setting –and actually provide subtle gameplay tweaks.

Riding through a blustery storm as the rain pelts down, the world is now cast in an eerily green tone at times, suggesting the sickening and warped nature of what's going on. As you approach a graveyard or take part in one of the various side-quests, the music kicks in – a creepy strings arrangement that wouldn't be out of place in a Hitchcockian thriller. Suddenly, the storm kicks into high gear as dozens of zombies begin to approach from all sides.

The weather breaks and clears as you 'cleanse' each area, too – subtly lifting the mood. Again, those that have played through Red Dead Redemption will appreciate the tweaks, but even on a superficial level, you'll feel the horror vibe Rockstar is aiming for.